A semiconductor radiation detector may be used to detect photons for medical imaging systems. Photons of ionizing radiation, e.g., X-ray or gamma ray radiation, are absorbed by a semiconductor and generate measurable electric charge, which may be collected by anodes deposited on the semiconductor. The electric charge collected by the anodes may be read and converted into electric signals by readout circuits coupled to the anodes. The energy of the absorbed photon is measured according to the energy level of the electric signals, and the location of absorption of the photon corresponds to the location of the anodes collecting the electric charge. The energy level and location of the absorbed photons are used for image reconstruction.
Unfortunately, in some cases the radiation flux may be too high for the readout circuit to distinguish between individual photons. For example, when the measured radiation flux is relatively high and the area of the anode is relatively small. This may adversely affect the quality of the reconstructed image.